Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 868 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $2,090,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $579,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 191,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,202,000 after acquiring an additional 30,070 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.2%

Caterpillar stock opened at $404.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $364.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $348.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 27.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CAT shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (up previously from $370.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $406.47.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.